Button



(No Model.)

0. RADGLIFFE.

BUTTON.

No@ 474,969. Patented May 1'7, 1892.

WITNESSES aj fles 52 01/01 o'l/iff'e BY I ATT'Y.

CHARLES RAD CLIFFE, OF

ATENT OFFICE.

NEWARK, NEW- JERSEY.

BUTTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 474,969, dated May 17, 1892.

Application filed June so, 1891.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES RADCLIFFE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark,in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buttons; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of buttons adapted to be attached or secured to the material without sewingthe button thereto by means of thread and needle, relating more especially to improvements upon the buttons illustrated in Letters Patent Nos. 417,939 and 417,941, granted to me December 24, 1889; and the invention consists in the peculiar arrangement and construction of the parts comprising the button proper with reference to a cheaper production of the same and a better means of securing the several parts together, being designed to provide a button simple in construction and of great utility and strength, possessing great advantages over buttons of the same class as heretofore made.

The object of the invention is to provide a button consisting of an upper shell or faceplate, a back plate or shell provided with an inwardly-curved and slotted hub, and a shoe having a post thereon adapted to be inserted or forced through the material and through said slotted hub in the back-plate, and by means of a suitable tool operated either by hand or machinery the upper end of the post is turned on opposite sides at right angles, or approximately so, across the inner part of said slotted hub, thereby causing a holding or locked engagement of these parts and firmly securing the button in wearing position on the material.

In the drawings herewith accompanying, in

which similar letters of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts in each of the several views, Figure 1 is a side view of my improved button secured to the material. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the several parts of the button, showing the upper part of the post on the shoe in its locked or holding en- $erial No. 397,986. (No model.)

gagement with the inner portion of the slotted hub. Fig. 4 is a top view of'the back-plate and Fig. 8 is a vertical section of said shoe and post, taken on line x in Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a side View of the shoe and post and a shell secured to said shoe, which is represented in section, a socketed needle being indicated in dotted lines placed over the post for forcing the same through the cloth or material. Figs. 10 and 11 are two side views of said shoe and post with the upper portion of the post turned at right angles to more clearly illustrate the arrangement of the same after said portions have been thus turned when inserted through the slotted hub. Fig. 12 is a blank from which said shoe and post have been formed. Fig. 13 is a vertical section of a modified form of button embodying my invention,in which the upper portion of the post is pointed or spear-shaped for readily inserting the same through the material. Fig. 14 is a top view of the back-plate used in connection with this form of button, showing the spear-shaped end of the post turned at right angles in opposite directions across the slotted hub. Fig. 15 is a front view of the shoe and spear-headed post with a shell secured to-the shoe represented in section. Fig. 16 is a similar view of the post and shoe after the spear-shaped head has been turned at an angle to the-body portion of the post. Figs. 17 and 18 are two forms of blanks from which said shoe and post are formed. I

As indicated in the above-described views, A represents the button, which is composed of a face-plate or upper shell a, provided with a central perforation or hole a, secured to the back-plate b by means oftheoverlapping edges 0. Said back-plate b is preferably formed as with a hub 19, which is inwardly bent, as at 19 and has a slot 17 therein. Integral with the shoe 0 or separate therefrom, if desirable, is formed or struck up thereon a post 0, proillustrated in Figs. 1, 3, and 6, being provided 4 shown in Figs. 9 and 12.

vided with a flat upper portion 0 formed by the oppositely-projecting arm 0 as clearly A shell 0 can be secured to the lower surface of the shoe 0 by means of the overlapping edges 0 but said shell can be dispensed with and the shoe and post can be used without such shell.

In order to secure the above-described button to the fabric, a socketed and cone-shaped needle d is placed over the upwardly-project-- ing post a, as indicated in dotted outline in Fig. 9, which is forced through the material, and whereby when said needle has been removed said post 0 has been forced through the material, its shoe being arranged on one side and the post provided with the projections 0 projecting from the opposite side of the material. Said post and its projections are then inserted through the slotted huh I), the parts thereby assuming the positions shown in Fig. 4, and said oppositely-projecting portions 0 projecting above the inner part of the inwardly-curved portion b in the hub Z). A suitable tool, shaped like a wrench and provided in its end with a slot, is then I inserted through the opening a in the faceplate a, and said slotted portion is placed over the arms 0 A quarter-turn of said tool, eitherby hand or machinery, then causes said oppositely-projecting portions or arms 0 to be turned at right angles, or approximately so, in opposite directions across the slot 12 in the hub 19. By means of this operation of turning or bending the arms or portions 0 as just described, the body portion of the post 0 is slightly drawn inward into the curved portion of the back-plate Z), and by thereby practically shortening said post, the shoe thereof and the arms 0 are brought toward one another, whereby the material is firmly depressed into the outer part of the inwardlycurved portion b of the back-plate, and the several parts of the button are firmly held in their locked positions and'the wabbling of the button on the material, which is very obj ectionable, is thereby successfully overcome.

By providing the post 0' with the upper flat portion 0 ['am enabled to make a hub of very small depth, which has this great advantage, that the several parts of the button can be made of sheet-iron or tin, itbeing a wellknown fact that a deep hub cannot be formed in a back-plate made from these two metals.

By my improved form of construction I have successfully overcome these difficulties, and I can make a button which is of simple and cheap construction and great utility, hutstill possessing the requisite strength.

In the modified forms of construction illustrated in Figs. 13 and 14., et seq, instead of providing thepost 0' with a flat portion 0 the oppositely-proj ecting arms 0 are extended upwardly, thereby forming a point or spearhead c. This form of construction has this advantage, that the shoe can be forced through the material without the use of a socketed needle d; but owing to the greater length of 1 the exact forms shown herein.

across the inner edges of the slot in the huh I is in all respects similar to that described in connection with the construction illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 850.

Of course I am aware that slight modifications may be made without departing from the scope of my invention-as, for instance,

the shape and form of the post-and the 0ppositely-proj ecting arms may be varied; or, in some cases, the inwardlypro ecting portion b in the huh 1), instead of being curved inwardly, may be formed straight across the bottom of the hub; and I therefore do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to The form of button illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, however, is the preferred construction. Another great advantage obtained in this construction is the dispensing with the use of a spring, which adds to the expense of manufacture, and where such springs are used there is always a possibility of the same becoming displaced before the post is inserted into the back-plate.

Owing to the flat post and the manner of turning the arms 0 across the slot the several parts of the button cannot possibly be pulled apart, no matter how great the strain thereon.

Havingthus described my invention, what I claim is I 1. In a button, the combination of a shoe and a flat and spirally-twisted post, the twisted portion of said post being within the hub and provided with oppositely-projecting arms above said twisted portion arranged across the slot in the hub, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. As an improved article of manufacture, the herein-described metallic button, consisting of a face-plate a and a back-plate 6, proyided with a huh I), having an inwardlycurved portion 1) and a slot 12 therein, and a 'shoe provided with a flat post formed integral therewith, having oppositely-projecting arms 0 and a flat portion 0 adapted to beinsertedv CHARLES RADCLIFFE. Witnesses:

FREDK. O. FRAENTZEL, WM. H. CAMFIELD, J r, 

